<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Growing up at The Speed of Sound by A_Lonely_Stick</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28310022">Growing up at The Speed of Sound</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Lonely_Stick/pseuds/A_Lonely_Stick'>A_Lonely_Stick</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>None - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anxiety Attacks, Autism, Blood and Gore, Child Neglect, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Children, Eating Disorders, F/F, F/M, Fear of Death, Gen, Harm to Children, Heavy Angst, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mental Anguish, Mental Breakdown, Multi, Other, Panic Attacks, Past Drug Addiction, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Harm, Sex Addiction, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Tragedy, Trans Character, Transphobia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:15:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28310022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Lonely_Stick/pseuds/A_Lonely_Stick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fish coughed out smoke, their body folding in on itself as they pondered William's question</p>
<p>When 𝘸𝘢𝘴 the last time anyone in the group danced? Or sang? Or swam? Or got out of bed early? Or hung out together outside of school? Or laughed at funny videos together? Any of the stuff normal teenagers, Lolita, Punk, Cottagecore, or otherwise do? When was the last time any of them smiled?</p>
<p>Looking around the room, which quickly hung onto the smell of weed and hard alcohol, the answer was obvious to Will</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No one knew</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Growing up at The Speed of Sound</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>William looks at himself in mirror, wondering where it all went wrong. He knows the answer, of course. The answer is something he's always been able to see. But the colors have faded years ago, along with the words he used to be able to understand. He swears that every time he looks in the mirror these days, he sees a tragic event long forgotten, but the voices of his parents come out in the darkness, and their fake smiles explain that all is okay. At this point, William's only option is to believe them, wash off the blood, roll down his sleeves, and pretend just like they are.</p><p>If they can do it, why can't he, right? It's like they say: "All the world is a stage. And only the best actors get to be happy"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first story! I hope I don't do too badly! I genuinely want to do good, but writing isn't something I have confidence in! I hope that I can at least impress anyone who reads!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>William liked looking at himself in mirrors when he was younger. Picking apart every detail until his head spun and he fell over because he had gotten a migraine. After a certain point, William could imagine himself in perfect detail. He could imagine himself walking, making various facial expressions, doing various things. It was something William enjoyed doing a lot, until the diagnosis came in that he was Autistic.</p><p>Before William came Marie, who is a straight A Collage student aiming for a career in the Culinary Arts and is incredibly talented at the craft. After Marie came Thomas, a star athlete with a promising career in Baseball, who is currently taking a break from playing the sport seriously to get his grades back up and is doing so at an amazing pace. After Thomas came Heather, who is currently the manager for the Mathletes, the Robotics Club, and the Athletics Club at her high school and is working towards her Highschool diploma to go to a college with courses in Robotic Engineering. Then after Heather came William.</p><p>William Francis Talow</p><p>The man with straight C's. The man who can't stand loud noises. The man who can't pay attention to save his life. The man who goes into full blown panic attacks because of someone simply raising their voice. The man who flaps his hands like a child. The man who can't shut up for once. The man who stares in awe at anything shiny like a baby. The man who collects garbage. The man who has earned the title of "The Family Disappointment". The man who was currently standing in his bathroom, naked, and washing blood off of his skinny and shaking body.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>William looked at himself in the mirror as he put his clothing back on and only felt pity. Skinny, pale, covered in ugly moles, and covered chest to calf in fresh, rather new, slightly old, and years old cuts and scars. Brown hair a tear stained mess, blue eyes puffy, and ugly nose stuffed with snot he can't seem to get rid of, he wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his gray long sleeves, says "Fuck it" to putting on his belt correctly, and leaves the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>William doesn't like looking at himself in the mirror anymore</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>